Yussef Shahin to Lead Pro-Palestinian Rally to Border with Gaza

Egypt’s most renowned director Yussef Shahin has joined the ranks of Egypt’s art industry in support of the suffering Palestinian people.

Egypt's best-known filmmaker, Yussef Shahin, will lead a peaceful pro-Palestinian protest rally to his country's border with the Gaza Strip, a colleague said Wednesday.

Shahin, hospitalized just two weeks ago for a heart attack, will on Friday lead the "protest in support of the Palestinians" from the capital Cairo to the border, fellow filmmaker, Khaled Yussef, told AFP.

"A demonstration organized by Palestinian associations will take place at the same time on the other side of the border," Yussef added.

Egyptian actress Yussra, Tunisian singer Latifa, who lives in Egypt, will travel with the demonstrators by bus from Cairo to the border post at Rafah, where there is a Palestinian refugee camp.

The rally is organized by the Egyptian screen actors guild and human rights groups.

It was not clear how close to the border Egyptian security would allow the protest to take place.

Israeli troops fired live rounds across the border during clashes early Wednesday with youths who threw rocks and bottles at their positions, an army spokesman said.

Egyptian university students have led anti-Israeli protests almost daily since Palestinian-Israeli violence erupted two weeks ago – CAIRO (AFP)